Am I Ready?
by azarathangel
Summary: Only you can decide if you're ready, Temperance. But I think you are you always have been, and always will be. [BB] angstyfluff


**Story: Am I Ready?**

**Disclaimer: I happen to own… NOTHING! Everyone belongs to FOX…. Damn. Nor do I own Evanescence's lyrics for "Listen to the Rain."**

**Spoilers: Minor finale**

**Pairing: BoothxBrennan. thank you captain states the obvious, always a pleasure to have you aboard… **

**Chapters: A b-e-a-utiful one-shot!**

**Summary: Only you can decide that, Temperance. Only you know whether you are ready.**

**Chapter 1: Am I Ready?**

**Note: A tie-over fic for the waits between 'Cage' chapters. This came to me in Algebra II class… I hate that class.**

**WARNING: Fluffish angst! Huzzah!**

**Read if you love fluff tied with angst ending with super sugar fluff! I love fluff…**

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"_Listen to each drop of rain_

_Whispering secrets in vain,_

_Frantically searching for someone to hear_

_Their story before they hit ground._

_Pleas don't let go._

_Can't we stay for awhile?_

_It's just too hard to say goodbye._

_Listen to the rain, weeping."_

_-Evanescence_

It started slowly, little raindrops falling pitter-patter around her on the roof. Gradually, the falling crystalline drops increased in volume, the water crashing against the windows and washing over her in waves. Skies were dark overhead, the early morning light obscured with clouds black as night. Lightning crackled across the dark skies, searing the rain-choked clouds. Thunder crashed as the lightning clashed, and trees trembled beneath the vast black sky. A whipping wind howled through the streets where few cars dared to travel. The almost-empty roads below her glistened in the lightning flashes; the surfaces were slick with water and oil. Rain continued to hurtle down from its broken prison in the sky, and Brennan trembled slightly as she heard the thunder and lightning fight for dominance in the sky. But the rain was not the cause of her shaky composure.

"You know it's dangerous out here?" the silky, deep voice of the FBI agent curled around her ear as his breath tickled her neck.

"Yes." Brennan responded, not moving. Rain cascaded down her face in shining rivulets, the cool water soothing a troubled mind. Her eyes were closed, hiding the portal to her soul behind mascara-streaked eyelids. Her pained face was tilted ever so slightly to face the blackened sky, welcoming the rain to drown her in its power. As Booth watched, he noticed her features slowly relaxing into a peaceful façade, lightning reflecting off the water coating her pale skin.

Booth turned his own face towards the heavens, and as the rain washed over him, he felt the tenseness in his shoulders melt into the ground with the raindrops falling all around him. Brennan's presence beside him only added to the atmosphere. His worries about lightning in the tremendous storm soon dissipated along with his tension.

"Am I ready, Booth?" The question was an unexpected one, and Booth turned to find her staring straight at him. Her eyes… her eyes spoke of a desperate grief; an overwhelming one Booth longed to pull from the depths of her soul and carry upon his own shoulders. He knew she would never let him carry her baggage, but he still yearned to steal at least some of her pain and take it as his own.

"For what, Bones?" he gently replied, his voice matching the softness of her own.

"For today." She turned back to the sky and the stormy ocean blue disappeared once more, the portal sealed for the time. Booth subtly checked his watch: 4:47 AM. He arrived at the Jeffersonian seventeen minutes ago searching for the forensic anthropologist after not finding her at home or at Angela's apartment. Thirteen of those seventeen minutes were spent watching the rain pummel her from his position at the roof's doorway.

"Only you can decide, Temperance." Booth sighed through his nose, her insecurity revealing a world of fears to him. "But yes, I think you are. You have always been ready for anything, Temperance. Even this."

"What if I'm not?" Booth barely heard her over the rain and thunder; her voice was so soft. So soft that in fact Booth did not know if he was meant to hear her melancholy tone. Nevertheless, he answered her as gently as possible, not knowing if she would hear him.

"That's why you have me." She heard the longing in his voice, his own words tainted with sentiment matching her own. But the meaning behind the longing she heard was lost upon the woman; what was it meant to signify? Nevertheless, her heart lifted a bit higher, trying to follow his words as the howling wind whipped them through her head and down towards the city stretching below them. And she smiled despite herself, comforted that he would always be there for her.

"Then I am ready." She made sure he heard her, and the confidence in Brennan's tone reminded Booth of the strong woman he was so used to bantering with in the lab and flirting with on a regular basis. So he, too, allowed a genuine smile to grace his perfect lips. She was ready; it was like he said, she always had been, and she always would be.

Later that day, Booth picked her up from her house and they drove to the scheduled funeral. It was not unlike other funerals she had been to, technicality-wise. But though this funeral was for one of the many victims Brennan spent her life identifying, she shared a special bond with the victim: her mother. This was a time where Brennan needed people; her emotional handicap needed her to depend on those who loved her. Angela never left her side, and that was a true blessing in itself. Angela was a true friend, beginning to end. But Booth's hand never left her own; he was her guardian angel. The guardian angel meant to lead her through the rest of her life.

After the service, Brennan found herself standing in front of her mother's tombstone, her eyes scanning the words engraved in marble over and over again. Booth stood loyally at her side, letting her take as much time as she needed to memorize the message. _Christine Brennan; Caring wife, loving mother. She will be missed._

"Thank you, Booth." She said to the man holding her hand. He gave it a quick squeeze and smiled at her.

"Anytime, Bones. I'm always here." He replied. They were silent again, Brennan reverting to her study of the white marble before speaking again. Her face told Booth she was thinking hard, and not about what was on the stone in front of her.

"I'd forgotten what love was, after they disappeared." Brennan voiced her thoughts. "But you, Seeley, you reminded me just how wonderful it feels." The words were sincere, soft, and scared. She turned to look at him, locking eyes against her instinct to look away and protect herself. And in her eyes, Booth found the greatest gift Temperance could give him: vulnerability. A wide grin broke out across his face as his heart soared. A piece of him felt guilty for being so happy at such a sad time, but he gently reminded himself that this was what Christine Brennan would have wanted: her daughter's renewed love, and the true beginning of a healing path towards a truly happy life. A life Booth knew he could give Temperance.

"That's why you have me." He said for the second time that day, only now, his longing for her was gone, replaced by hope for the future. He was meant to help her; and he would. Booth gently pulled the auburn-haired scientist into his arms and buried his nose in her hair. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he felt her shudder beneath him; she was finally crying. And crying was the first baby step she would take in order to heal her shattered heart. He held her tightly, hoping her mother could see how ready her daughter really was to begin life anew.

That night, it rained again, and the two found themselves back out on the roof of the Jeffersonian. This time, though, Booth kept his arms tightly around her waist as they watched lightning dance across the sky. In comfortable silence, they stood and watched the diamond teardrops of the heavens fall and break, shining shards scattering throughout the city and distorting the light beneath them. Rain cleansed them of their fears and worries earlier, and now it coated them in promises of new beginnings. Disaster may lead you astray, but true love will set you back on the path to happiness. And so it did.

"_I stand alone in the storm._

_Suddenly, sweet words take hold:_

'_Hurry!' they say, 'for you haven't much time!_

'_Open your eyes to the love around you;_

'_You may feel you're alone,_

'_But I'm here still with you._

'_You can do what you dream,_

'_Just remember to_

'_Listen to the rain.'"_

_-Evanescence_

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Well, there you go, a little fluff-angst piece that most of you probably hated. But, whatever, I just had fun writing it. Different style than my usual, so forgive the sheer magnitude of the horribleness I have bestowed upon the unlucky eyes of my dear readers. Hehe, this is fun.. Anyways, please review, as it makes me happy and I will personally pay for any brain damage/eye trauma this piece might have caused you. Hugs, loves, and cookies!

-Ash


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